Durant punctuated the rim with the highlight of the night when he drove past Michael Beasley on the perimeter and exploded to the rim before dunking right in the grill of Gortat. It was a superstar play and the perfect capper on a night the Suns just ran into two of the best players in the NBA on one of their better nights.

“Well first of all, I was looking for my car keys under the basket,” Gortat said. “I was trying to find my car keys because I lost them over there, so I was just looking for it. And Michael Beasley is going to get Krispy Kremes for the rest of the season for sure for me.

“It happens. The funny thing is that when [Kendrick] Perkins was standing under the basket he looked at me and I looked at him, and he said, ‘I know how it feels.’ He said, ‘Guards left you on the island, huh?’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’

“Listen, it happens. I am not going to deny that was probably the top three dunks of the year, right? I mean at least I am going to be out there. I mean, I am just going to try to be silly about it. I am not going to cry. It is just part of the game.

“When he took off off one foot, I didn’t even lift my hands up, I already knew what was going to happen. I just tried to get out of the picture, or at least smile. It was bad defense, and then bad rotation, bad help. You can’t do anything.”

You guys are going to beat us this summer. We cannot rebound for shit. Bosh is a lazy ass bum.

Bosh is getting older for a Center...he's taking the regular season off. I fully expect Miami to do the bare minimum they need to get home court throughout the East. The Heat will turn it on in the playoffs and are still the favorite to win it all.

Regardless of where Miami is at this year, if OKC makes it out of the West, the series was surely going to go to at least 6 and probably 7 games. OKC still needs to develop it's interior offense to be able to beat Miami. I'm not convinced a small lineup with Durant/Westbrook/Martin/Sef can beat James/Wade/Allen/Chalmers. Finding a way to get Perkins 8 to 12 points involved in the game (whether his own or through assists) is going to be key to closing that gap. Ibaka will also have to get some of his points at the rim.

I feel like OKC a year later is in a position to better defend Miami (as Durant, Westbrook, and Ibaka have all shown marked improvement defensively). It's the offense that we have to figure out, and we have to figure it out with 2 bigs on the floor. If we can't force Udonis Haslem into 20 minutes, then we're going to struggle to win.

Also, we need to shoot better from 3 and quit letting you all light us up beyond the arc...but again...force Udonis to be on the floor and the perimeter is no longer as big of a deal.

Re: Official Oklahoma City Thunder Thread (2012/13)

Bosh is getting older for a Center...he's taking the regular season off. I fully expect Miami to do the bare minimum they need to get home court throughout the East. The Heat will turn it on in the playoffs and are still the favorite to win it all.

Regardless of where Miami is at this year, if OKC makes it out of the West, the series was surely going to go to at least 6 and probably 7 games. OKC still needs to develop it's interior offense to be able to beat Miami. I'm not convinced a small lineup with Durant/Westbrook/Martin/Sef can beat James/Wade/Allen/Chalmers. Finding a way to get Perkins 8 to 12 points involved in the game (whether his own or through assists) is going to be key to closing that gap. Ibaka will also have to get some of his points at the rim.

I feel like OKC a year later is in a position to better defend Miami (as Durant, Westbrook, and Ibaka have all shown marked improvement defensively). It's the offense that we have to figure out, and we have to figure it out with 2 bigs on the floor. If we can't force Udonis Haslem into 20 minutes, then we're going to struggle to win.

Also, we need to shoot better from 3 and quit letting you all light us up beyond the arc...but again...force Udonis to be on the floor and the perimeter is no longer as big of a deal.

I think you are spot on. And I think Oke City is in the exact position Miami was last season. If you guys get home court on us this year I think it could and will be trouble for us this time.

I've said all along, I like the Thunder to win it all this year.

This Miami team has only two gears. The one you saw on Christmas day and the one we've seen since. Nevertheless, I think we know where this one ends up. Okc vs Miami once again.

I think it's safe to say at this point, that the west is likely to have home-court since the Top 4 in the west, will likely fight hard to get home court.

I agree that OKC is better than LAC, and more so in the playoffs than the regular season because the starters play more minutes, and the bench is what makes LAC so good. However, in any series that goes 6/7 games, the Clips are more likely to be the fresher team because all of their bench will likely see minutes in the playoffs (just not as much as they're used to). Most importantly though, I like OKC's defense the best out of the west. When everyone dials in, the only mediocre defender that will get 10+ minutes is Martin.

The only team on that list who should beat OKC is the Clippers. They'll be decided favorites in rest of them. Golden State just lost their heart and soul Steph Curry.

I thought Curry was only out indefinitely (meaning he could be back by that game, and that we'll 2nd night of a B2B vs. the Clips)

I don't know that we'll be decided favorites in Denver or LA, particularly Denver. While I think 3-3 is a definite possibility, I'd be disappointed if we didn't take this road trip seriously as an opportunity to really develop our composure and focus on the road...because of that, I think 4-2 is acceptable and I'll feel really good about 5-1. Ironically, I'd be more okay with 3-3 if we beat the Clips, Denver, and Golden State.